A game of life and death this Christmas

Christmas is a little over a month away but how it will be celebrated in Scotland this year is very much up in the air. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was yesterday forced to raise the prospect of a new national lockdown such as that currently in place in England in response to talk of festive shoppers flouting the Covid tier rules in order to get their hands on a Christmas bargain.

There are also wider concerns about a growing undercurrent of unrest about how restrictions might temper the traditional celebrations come December 25.

What is clear is the festive season ahead will be like no other in living memory.

Everything from Christmas shopping trips to office parties and major family get-togethers will be either off the agenda altogether or severely curtailed.

That is a difficult reality to digest, and for some any curb on their Christmas plans will be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

But context is everything.

The past 24 hours saw 32 Covidrelated deaths registered in Scotland and more than 1,000 new cases of the virus reported. This in a week when the Scottish death toll to the virus pushed passed 5,000. Christmas is an important holiday. But, as we move into the festive season, we must ask ourselves whether it is important enough to risk our own and others’ lives for.

And we should act accordingly.